What about US, prime minister?

Well, just we ordinary Brits; you know, the people constantly being put upon to carry the burdens YOU have decided -without bothering to advise, let alone consult- should bear whatever the sacrifices `necessary` to give you the land you think will re-elect you. Although why you should think that, I can`t imagine, incidentally – you`re only in post because Gordon (tG) Brown couldn`t pull off a similar trick.And thank goodness, neither of you are in the same league a Tony tB.

I digress. I am merely one of `them`. Considerably older than you; I have skills, I have worked for a living, I have raised a family (assisting, as best I could, my spectacular and spectacularly conscientious full-time wife raise a family of whom we are both immensely proud, given our humble post-war beginnings, the strategies and financial stretchings of our combined upbringing, culminating in the achievements, frankly, of every single one of our group). Now standing on our respective two feets, we are all proud members, if only occasionally heralded pillars, of our diverse societies.

`think that beats you on just about every level.

But the question. Where have you now positioned the all of me`s, US, in this strange Great “we`re all in it together” Britain?

From where we sit, the answer often seems to be in a pretty lowly, and unfamiliarly lonely place; where you have changed far too many of the values, norms, enjoyment, standards and decencies of our environment.O.K., we were reared in a relatively underpopulated UK -I worked gathering potatoes during the school holidays- so it wasn`t just the local Bobby who maintained order. Everybody knew everybody. Nearly everybody knew everbody`s business, and some arguably knew, or invented, far too much. But that meant strangers, such as they were, were `on report` from first appearance. Questions could and would be properly asked.

Everybody spoke the same language. We were not naive enough to imagine there we no strange relationships, but (and we knew who they were, yet incongruously) they kept their less generally admired excesses indoors.

It was many years before any of US earned enough to `qualify` for the payment of income tax -given the stones-watering amounts even recently newly deducted by Governments (we`re talking “tax raids” on pension funds, fuel accelerators, ulitity sell-offs and so on) where does all that extra money go?- but we, as our parents before us, managed to get through.

Was it as simple as that; that we could effectively practice some innate set of management skills?

Now, we often think, our self-appointed, certainly non-accountable leaders have nothing more important to do than offend our heritage and our dignity (Elf & Safety, financial propriety, Investigations into Inquiries, gay `marriage`; phooey); all the while appealing to our deserving selves by peddling untrue manifesto pledges about what they will and will not do `afterwards`. Mind you, double-jobbing works well. Sneaky Patton clearly has too many jobs to be able to give proper attention to at least one of his higher-profile ones; but most MPs seem to be able to compile dodgy expenses claims while simultaneously dutifully complying with appropriately foul-mouthed whippings.

I could go on. When I meet with my friends, WE do go on. There`s SO much needing saying. But what, Mr PM, about US?